Western Union announced a new online payment method for the cash-preferred market: WU Pay. WU Pay isn't quite instant, and it's an extra step for online shoppers, but it gives those without access to credit and bank accounts, or those who want the security and privacy of making a cash purchase, an option for online purchases. 

To use the new service, online shoppers select WU Pay as a payment method during checkout at an online merchant site. An email is then sent to their email address requesting payment. They can then either pay the bill through a bank account, using online bill payment services, or pay with cash at one of Western Union's 44,000 agent locations in the U.S. Once the bill is paid, the online merchant ships the order. (There's a mobile payment angle as well. The purchase could be made from a tablet or mobile device while at a Western Union agent location and paid for immediately using cash.)

Western Union said the new service is already available through hundreds of online merchants like Sears, Kmart, Buy.com and Tiger Direct. Additionally, it can be used to purchase virtual gift cards for merchants like Amazon, Dell and American Airlines, or as an option for funding wire transfers through Western Union, the company said.

Based on the eBillme platform that Western Union acquired last year, Western Union is positioning the new service as a part of the company's overall transformation from venerable sender of telegrams (sadly, the company discontinued that service in 2006), to modern-day financial services provider. (The company has announced a number of partnerships in the past few months allowing them to offer more mobile and P2P payment services.)

"WU Pay is an integral part of the ongoing change taking place at Western Union," said Hikmet Ersek, President and CEO of Western Union. "WU Pay not only propels us further into the digital payments space, it improves our core money movement capabilities by combining the strengths of our brick-and-mortar Agent network and WesternUnion.com with the proven eBillme platform we acquired last year."

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